Here in Pennsylvania, we bond over a few things that we hold a bit closer to our hearts than anything else. If you’re wondering how to bond with your new significant other who is from Pennsylvania, or you are curious to find out how to fit in here, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some things people from Pennsylvania love.

1. Hiking
Nicholas A. Tonelli
Pennsylvania has 121 state parks, all of which offer gorgeous hiking trails. It's also home to the more than a half a million acre Allegheny National Forest. We can find hiking trails just about anywhere we go.
2. United States History
Thomas
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in particular, is full of significant buildings and artifacts that help us remember how our country got started. For a hearty helping of both history and the paranormal, you must add a visit to Gettysburg to your bucket list.
3. Pierogies
Jacob Haas
Who wouldn't love warm, toasty pockets of dough stuffed with buttery potatoes? Luckily, pirogues aren't hard to come by in the state of PA. In fact, if you live in Pittsburgh, you probably cheer on running pierogis between innings at PNC Park.
4. All Four Seasons
Nicholas A. Tonelli
Every few months, we enjoy a shift in the weather. Sometimes, it feels like we experience all four seasons in one day. Even though the unpredictability can be inconvenient, we love keeping things fresh and the variety of wardrobe changes we enjoy throughout the year.
5. Sports Rivalries
fatherspoon
Many sports fans have to look to their neighboring states to find rivals, but lucky for us, PA has pro teams in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Where your loyalties lie says a lot about where in the state you come from.
3. Spending your weekend afternoons picking apples and going to pumpkin patches.
Lehigh Valley, PA
When fall rolls around, Pennsylvanians can be found taking their kids and grandkids to local farms for fun activities such as apple picking, pumpkin patches, and hay rides.
7. Cheesesteaks
Kaitlin
Cheesesteaks are a Pennsylvania staple that hail from Philadelphia. The true question is whether you prefer Pat's or Geno's.

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8. The Chicken Dance
frankieleon
Our Pennsylvania Dutch roots embedded polka music into the local culture, so it's difficult to attend a wedding without hearing the chicken dance at least once. If you want to be a chicken, if you want to be a duck...
9. Saving Our Parking Spots With Lawn Chairs
meryddian
You shoveled for hours-- do you really want to lose your parking spot as soon as you leave? We defend our hard earned territory, despite what people may say.
10. Farmers' Markets
thisisbossi
Who doesn't love the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables and the warm feeling of community that can only be found at farmers' markets?
11. Straddling The Northeast And The Midwest
Noe Alfaro
Pennsylvania is called the Keystone state because it acts as a border between the northeast and midwestern regions of the U.S. That's why no one can really agree into which region of the country Western PA fits.
12. Wawa Or Sheetz (But Not Both)
Lauren Siegert
First we had the Montagues and the Capulets, and now we have Sheetz and Wawa. You can only choose one. Choose wisely.
13. Seeing Our Steel All Over The Country
A. Strakey
A good portion of the steel used in buildings around the U.S. was manufactured in Pittsburgh and Bethlehem before the factories shut down. The legacy continues, though, in numerous buildings around the country.
14. Road Trips
Leah Pete Kevin
Pennsylvanians are lucky enough to live close to many major cities outside of the state-- when we get bored, we can be found jetting off to New York, Baltimore, the Jersey Shore, Chicago, or a variety of other fun places that aren't too far away.
15. Hershey's Chocolate
Daniel R. Blume
The Hershey Chocolate Factory is one of Pennsylvania's biggest claims to fame, providing succulent sweets for people nationwide.

What are some other things people from Pennsylvania love? Let us know in the comments! If you’re a Pennsylvanian, chances are you love food, too. Here are 10 classic Pennsylvania dishes we all ate if we grew up in PA.

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things people from pennsylvania love

Beth Price-Williams | October 10, 2020

What are the most popular foods in Pennsylvania?

Did you know that Pennsylvania is the snack food capital of the United States? Yep, so you probably love snack food if you’re living in Pennsylvania. But, we’re not just known for our snack food. Pennsylvania may be best known for the iconic cheesesteak. Other Pennsylvanian favorite foods include shoofly pie, whoopie pies (gobs), chipped chopped ham, and birched beer. Now there’s one food that you either love or your hate, and that’s scrapple. It’s made with pork or meat scraps before being stewed in cornmeal. If you live in Western Pennsylvania, chances are you can’t pass by a hearty helping of authentic pierogis.

What stereotypes are there about Pennsylvania?

People have stereotypes about just about every state and probably even every city and town across the country. Pennsylvania is no different. Some of those Pennsylvania stereotypes, however, are quite true. Eastern Pennsylvania and Western Pennsylvania have a fierce rivalry whether you’re talking about the Eagles versus the Steelers or Wawa versus Sheetz. What side you fall on really depends on where you live. We save our parking spots with chairs during the winter. After all, we dug ourselves out of the snow, so we’ve earned the right to hold on to that spot.

What unique words and phrases do people in Pennsylvania say?

Life in Pennsylvania means having a language all of our own, especially if you live in the Pittsburgh area. Yep, in Pittsburgh, we use such words as yinz instead of y’all and jagoff when you annoy us. All those sub shops selling subs? Well, we call them hoagies in Pennsylvania. We outen the lights instead of turning them off, and we rid up our rooms when they need cleaned. Don’t worry if you get confused. Pittsburghese dictionaries are sold in some stores. If you have trouble understanding the meaning of our lingo, wait until you see the names of some of our cities and towns. Punxsutawney, Duquesne, and Schuylkill all sound a lot different than they look.

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